Suspects in botched city cosmetic surgery challenge prosecution

A Kibera court has ordered the proprietors of a city cosmetic clinic to appear before it on Wednesday for further directions relating to the death of a patient following a botched cosmetic surgery.

They will appear before senior principal magistrate Samson Temu.

Their lawyers on Tuesday asked court to defer plea-taking to Thursday.

When parties appeared before the magistrate’s court in Kibera on Tuesday, Lawyer Danstan Omari representing the suspects said his clients had been served late.

He said the suspects had also secured anticipatory bail from the High Court stopping their arrest.

“We are asking that plea-taking be deferred to Thursday when my client’s will be able to appear in court,” Omari said.

Omari said they had moved to the High Court to challenge their prosecution and that the lower court ought to await the directions from the superior court.

His application was, however, opposed by both the prosecution and lawyers representing the victim’s family.

The prosecution said all the suspects were served with notice to appear in court for plea-taking.

The state asked the court to issue warrants of arrests against the suspects.

The DPP also said the High Court had not stopped the proceedings hence no need to wait for its directions.

The magistrate in the end directed that the suspects appear before him on Wednesday at 9am for further directions.

Charges against the suspects stem from the death of a businesswoman in October last year following complications from a surgical procedure.

The deceased underwent a cosmetic surgery at a city facility and was discharged on October 18.

She felt unwell while at home and returned to the facility but was referred to Nairobi Hospital where she underwent an emergency surgery on October 23.

Surgeons at the hospital discovered multiple perforations in her intestines during observation.

The patient died on October 26, 2024 with postmortem showing the 47-year-old succumbed to extensive internal complications following her 360-degree liposuction procedure performed on October 16, 2024.

Liposuction involves the removal of excess fat from the body.

After investigations, the Director of Public Prosecutions preferred charges against the suspects.